Quenching apparatus and quenching method

ABSTRACT

To perform blast quenching for a plurality of solution-treated workpieces in a uniform manner for a group of the workpieces to allow the group of the workpieces to have a uniform quality, there is provided a quenching apparatus configured to perform quenching treatment on a solution-treated workpiece unloaded from a solution treatment furnace. The solution treatment furnace includes a plurality of workpiece storage chambers arranged horizontally into an annular shape and stacked in a vertical direction and a plurality of workpiece unloading ports corresponding to the workpiece storage chambers. The quenching apparatus is provided so as to be movable in accordance with the positions of the workpiece unloading ports.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a quenching apparatus and a quenchingmethod used to perform a quenching treatment on a workpiece unloadedfrom a solution treatment furnace.

Description of the Related Art

The heat treatment of metals which is performed industrially is mainlyperformed using a furnace. As a type of furnace used in, for example,heat treatment of an aluminum alloy, a furnace of a hot air circulationtype is used for the purpose of, by way of example, reducing variationsin temperature in the furnace and stabilizing quality, and a multistagehearth rotary furnace is used for the purpose of, by way of example,space saving in a heat treatment facility. Recently, a hot aircirculation type multistage hearth rotary furnace having a combinationof these characteristics is used for heat treatment of a metal such asan aluminum alloy. Cited Literatures describing embodiments of the heattreatment furnace of this type include, for example, JP-2008-138916 A.

In the case of a heat-treatable alloy metal such as an aluminum alloy,for the purpose of providing uniform products for consumers by bendingor pressing, a soft material is molded first, and then is subjected tosolution treatment, followed by blast quenching. In other words, a metalsuch as an aluminum alloy subjected to a solution treatment by amultistage hearth rotary furnace of a hot air circulation type disclosedin JP-2008-138916 A, for example, has been subjected to a quenching workby a subsequent blast quenching.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, in the related art disclosed in JP-2008-138916 A, for example,it is difficult to perform blast quenching for a plurality ofsolution-treated workpieces in a uniform manner for a group of theworkpieces, and there is a room for improvement in quenching work basedon the blast quenching for obtaining a plurality of workpieces havinguniform quality.

In view of such a problem existing in the related art described above,it is an object of the invention to provide a quenching apparatuscapable of performing blast quenching for a plurality ofsolution-treated workpieces in a uniform manner for a group of theworkpieces and consequently, capable of achieving a quenching work basedon blast quenching which allows the group of the workpieces to have auniform quality, and a quenching method performed by using the quenchingapparatus.

The respective parts will be described below. It should be noted thatalthough reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are attached toparentheses in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention,the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments.

A quenching apparatus (20) according to an aspect of the inventionperforms quenching treatment on solution-treated workpieces (W) unloadedfrom a solution treatment furnace (10) having a plurality of workpiecestorage chambers (11) and a plurality of workpiece unloading ports (12)corresponding to the workpiece storage chambers (11), and is provided soas to be movable in accordance with the positions of the workpieceunloading ports (12).

Another quenching apparatus (20) according to another aspect of theinvention performs quenching treatment on solution-treated workpieces(W) unloaded from a solution treatment furnace (10) having a pluralityof workpiece storage chambers (11) arranged horizontally in an annularshape and stacked in a vertical direction and a plurality of workpieceunloading ports (12) corresponding to the workpiece storage chambers(11), and is provided so as to be movable in accordance with thepositions of the workpiece unloading ports (12).

The quenching apparatus (20) according to the other aspect of theinvention may include a workpiece storage unit (21) configured to storea workpiece (W) unloaded from the workpiece unloading port (12), and anair-cooling fan (22) configured to air-cool the workpiece (W) stored inthe workpiece storage unit (21).

In addition, in the quenching apparatus (20) according to the otheraspect of the invention, the workpiece storage unit (21) may be providedwith a shutter (24) capable of opening/closing at a position where theworkpiece (W) is loaded and unloaded.

Further, the quenching apparatus (20) according to the other embodimentof the invention may include a straightening plate (23) configured tostraighten the air flow generated by the air-cooling fan (22).

In addition, in the quenching apparatus (20) according to the otheraspect of the invention, the plurality workpiece unloading ports (12)may be provided in the vertical direction of the solution treatmentfurnace (10), and the quenching apparatus may be provided so as to bemovable up and down in accordance with the positions of the workpieceunloading ports (12).

A quenching method according to still another aspect of the invention ischaracterized in that quenching treatment is performed by using thequenching apparatus (20) described above.

According to the invention, a quenching apparatus capable of performingblast quenching for a plurality of solution-treated workpieces in auniform manner for a group of the workpieces and consequently, capableof achieving a quenching work based on blast quenching which allows thegroup of the workpieces to have a uniform quality, and a quenchingmethod performed by using the quenching apparatus are achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a configuration example of aquenching apparatus according to a present embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating a configuration example of aquenching apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing for explaining a quenching methodperformed by using the quenching apparatus according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching methodperformed by using the quenching apparatus according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching methodperformed by using the quenching apparatus according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching methodperformed by using the quenching apparatus according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching methodperformed by using the quenching apparatus according to the presentembodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching methodperformed by using the quenching apparatus according to the presentembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for performing the invention will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that thefollowing embodiments are not intended to limit the invention defined bythe claims, and that all the combinations of features described in theembodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution of theinvention.

First, the configuration of a quenching apparatus according to thepresent embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.Here, FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a configuration example of thequenching apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is afront view illustrating a configuration example of the quenchingapparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a drawingillustrating the quenching apparatus according to the present embodimentviewed upward from a lower part in FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, two quenchingapparatuses 20 a and 20 b are provided for one solution treatmentfurnace 10.

Referring to the solution treatment furnace 10 in which the quenchingapparatus 20 (20 a, 20 b) according to the present embodiment isinstalled, the solution treatment furnace 10 according to the presentembodiment includes a plurality of workpiece storage chambers 11arranged horizontally in an annular shape. Further, the plurality ofworkpiece storage chambers 11 are stacked in the vertical direction, andin the case of the solution treatment furnace 10 of the presentembodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the number of the workpiece storagechambers 11 arranged horizontally in the annular shape in one tier issixteen, and the sixteen workpiece storage chambers 11 in one tier arearranged in the vertical direction by six tiers.

The plurality of workpiece unloading ports 12 are formed correspondingto the workpiece storage chambers 11 for each tier. The workpiecestorage chambers 11 are arranged in a pattern of 16 chambers×6 tiers,that is, 96 chambers in total. A movable lid 13 for closing and openingeach unloading port is disposed for each of the plurality of workpieceunloading ports 12. In other words, as illustrated on the left side inFIG. 1, the movable lid 13 can cover the workpiece unloading port 12 toclose the unloading port, or can move away from the workpiece unloadingport 12 to open the unloading port as illustrated on the right side inFIG. 1.

In the solution treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment, theworkpiece unloading ports 12 illustrated on the left side in FIG. 1correspond to the workpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the second,fourth, and sixth tiers, and the workpiece unloading ports 12illustrated on the right side in FIG. 1 correspond to workpieceunloading ports 12 provided on the first, third, and fifth tiers. Inother words, in the solution treatment furnace 10 of the presentembodiment, for the sixteen workpiece storage chambers 11 stacked by sixtiers in the vertical direction and arranged horizontally in the annularshape, one workpiece unloading port 12 each is provided for each tier,and one movable lid 13 is provided for each of the workpiece unloadingport 12 for each tier, and in addition, the workpiece unloading ports 12are provided alternately in the tiers when viewing the solutiontreatment furnace 10 in the vertical direction.

Two quenching apparatuses 20 a and 20 b are installed for the solutiontreatment furnace 10 described above. In the present embodiment, thequenching apparatus 20 b illustrated on the left side in FIG. 1corresponds to the workpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the first,third, and fifth tiers, and the quenching apparatus 20 a illustrated onthe right side in FIG. 1 corresponds to workpiece unloading ports 12provided on the second, fourth, and sixth tiers. In other words, in thepresent embodiment, the quenching apparatuses 20 a and 20 b and theworkpiece unloading ports 12 are arranged reversely to be opposite toeach other in the right and left directions. The reason why such aconfiguration is employed is that a flow which achieves smoothertransfer of the workpieces W from the workpiece unloading ports 12 tothe quenching apparatuses 20 a and 20 b by the multi-joint robot arm 30,which will be described later, is obtained.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the quenching apparatuses 20 a and 20b according to the present embodiment are provided with one quenchingapparatus 20 b for the first, third, and fifth tiers illustrated on theleft side in FIG. 2, one quenching apparatus 20 a for the second,fourth, and sixth tiers is installed on the right side in FIG. 2, andthese two quenching apparatuses 20 a, 20 b are provided so as to bemovable up and down independently in accordance with the positions ofthe workpiece unloading ports 12. In other words, the quenchingapparatus 20 b for the first, third, and fifth tiers illustrated on theleft side in FIG. 2 can stop at approximately the same heights as theworkpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the first, third, and fifthtiers, and the quenching apparatus 20 a for the second, fourth, andsixth tiers illustrated on the right side in FIG. 2 can stop atapproximately the same heights as the workpiece unloading ports 12provided on the second, fourth, and sixth tiers. The up and downmovement of the quenching apparatuses 20 a and 20 b in the verticaldirection is realized by moving means including a motor 25 and a chain26.

Further, the quenching apparatuses 20 a and 20 b according to thepresent embodiment each have a workpiece storage unit 21 configured tostore the workpiece W unloaded from the workpiece unloading port 12 ofthe solution treatment furnace 10, and an air-cooling fan 22 is disposedat an upper position of the workpiece storage unit 21 to air-cool theworkpiece W stored in the workpiece storage unit 21.

In addition, two straightening plates 23 configured to straighten theair flow generated by the air-cooling fan 22 are disposed directly underthe air-cooling fan 22, and the workpiece storage unit 21 is providedwith a shutter 24 capable of opening and closing at a position where theworkpiece W is carried in and unloaded. Since air appropriatelystraightened for the workpiece W can be supplied, by actions of theair-cooling fan 22, the straightening plates 23 and the shutter 24, intothe workpiece storage unit 21 in which the workpiece W carried out fromthe solution treatment furnace 10 is stored, quenching work based on theblast quenching under the uniform condition is enabled in each workpiecestorage unit 21.

The workpieces W can be unloaded and loaded into the workpiece storagechambers 11 of the solution treatment furnace 10 described above andalso can be unloaded and loaded into the workpiece storage units 21 ofthe quenching apparatuses 20 a and 20 b by a multi-joint robot arm 30disposed substantially in an intermediate portion between the twoquenching apparatuses 20 a and 20 b. In FIG. 1, for convenience ofexplanation, a main body portion 31 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 andan arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 are separately depicted,but originally, the main body portion 31 and the arm tip 32 areconnected to each other, and the arm tip 32 indicated by the referencenumerals 32 a to 32 d is an example of a position that the arm tip 32can take.

In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the arm tip 32 of themulti-joint robot arm 30 according to the present embodiment of theinvention is configured to be able to take a loading position indicatedby a reference numeral 32 a for loading the workpieces W, an insertionposition indicated by a reference numeral 32 b for inserting theworkpieces W into the workpiece storage chambers 11, an unloadingposition indicated by a reference numeral 32 c for unloading theworkpieces W from the workpiece storage chambers 11, and a carry-outposition indicated by a reference numeral 32 d for carrying out theworkpieces W. Further, the arm tip 32 is configured to be capable ofunloading a workpiece W from the workpiece storage chamber 11 at theposition indicated by reference numeral 32 c and inserting the workpieceW into the workpiece storage unit 21 of the quenching apparatus 20 a. Inthis manner, according to the present embodiment, it is possible tocarry out the conveyance of the workpieces W during the quenching workincluding the solution treatment and the blast quenching of theworkpieces W by the single multi-joint robot arm 30.

Thus far, the configuration of the quenching apparatus 20 (20 a, 20 b)according to the present embodiment has been described. Next, aquenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus 20 (20 a, 20b) described above will be described with reference additionally toFIGS. 3 to 8. FIGS. 3 to 8 are schematic drawings for explaining thequenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus according tothe present embodiment. For the sake of convenience of explanation, asregards the multi-joint robot arm 30 illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 8, themain body portion 31 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 is omitted, andonly the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 is illustrated.

FIG. 3 shows a situation in which the arm tip 32 of the multi-jointrobot arm 30 is about to scoop up and convey the workpiece W at theloading position. At this time, the movable lids 13 of the workpieceunloading ports 12 on the right side in the drawing provided on thefirst, third, and fifth tiers of the solution treatment furnace 10 areopened, and the workpiece unloading ports 12 of the workpiece storagechambers 11 on the first, third and fifth tiers are opened.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robotarm 30 conveys the workpieces W, and the workpieces W are loaded intothe workpiece storage chambers 11 on the first, third, and fifth tiers.Thereafter, the arm tip 32 is retracted from the inside of the workpiecestorage chamber 11, the movable lid 13 is closed, and the solutiontreatment of the workpiece W by the solution treatment furnace 10 isperformed.

As in FIG. 4, for the workpiece storage chambers 11 on the second,fourth, and sixth tiers illustrated in FIG. 5, the arm tip 32 of themulti-joint robot arm 30 conveys these workpieces W in the workpiecestorage chambers 11 on the second, fourth and sixth tiers. Thereafter,the arm tip 32 is retracted from the inside of the workpiece storagechamber 11, the movable lid 13 is closed, and the solution treatment ofthe workpiece W by the solution treatment furnace 10 is performed.

Subsequently, the solution-treated workpieces W are carried out from thesolution treatment furnace 10 in sequence. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 6, the movable lids 13 which close the workpiece unloading ports12 of the workpiece storages chambers 11 on the first, third, and fifthtiers are opened, the workpiece unloading ports 12 of the workpiecestorage chambers 11 of the first, third, and fifth tiers are opened, andthe solution-treated workpieces W in the workpiece storage chamber 11 onthe first, third, and fifth tiers are carried out of the furnace by thearm tip 32. Then, the workpieces W carried out from the workpiecestorage chambers 11 of the first, third, and fifth tiers are loaded intothe workpiece storage unit 21 formed in the quenching apparatus 20 b forthe first, third, and fifth tiers. At this time, since the quenchingapparatus 20 b is controlled by a control device (not illustrated) tomove to a height corresponding to the tier of the workpiece unloadingport 12, which is a destination of the workpiece W, and thus the arm tip32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 for transferring the workpiece W cantransfer the workpiece W with almost no change in height. Since thequenching apparatus 20 b and the workpiece unloading ports 12 arereversely arranged so as to be opposite to each other in the plan view,the transfer of the workpieces W from the workpiece unloading ports 12to the quenching apparatus 20 b is smoothly performed by the multi-jointrobot arm 30. In addition, in the quenching apparatus 20 b in which theworkpiece W is inserted, air appropriately straightened for theworkpiece W can be supplied, by actions of the air-cooling fan 22, thestraightening plates 23 and the shutter 24 illustrated in FIG. 2, intothe workpiece storage unit 21 in which the workpiece W carried out fromthe solution treatment furnace 10 is stored, which enables quenchingwork based on the blast quenching under the uniform condition in eachworkpiece storage unit 21.

On the other hand, for the workpieces W that have been undergone thesolution treatment in the workpiece storage chambers 11 in the second,fourth, and sixth tiers illustrated in FIG. 7, the same process as inFIG. 6 can be executed. In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 7, themovable lids 13 which close the workpiece unloading ports 12 of theworkpiece storages chambers 11 on the second, fourth, and sixth tiersare opened, the workpiece unloading ports 12 of the workpiece storagechambers 11 of the second, fourth, and sixth tiers are opened, and thesolution-treated workpieces W in the workpiece storage chamber 11 on thesecond, fourth, and sixth tiers are carried out of the furnace by thearm tip 32. Then, the workpieces W carried out from the workpiecestorage chambers 11 of the second, fourth, and sixth tiers are loadedinto the workpiece storage unit 21 formed in the quenching apparatus 20a for the second, fourth, and sixth tiers. At this time, since thequenching apparatus 20 a is controlled by a control device (notillustrated) to move to a height corresponding to the tier of theworkpiece unloading port 12, which is a destination of the workpiece W,and thus the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 for transferringthe workpiece W can transfer the workpiece W with almost no change inheight. Since the quenching apparatus 20 a and the workpiece unloadingports 12 are reversely arranged so as to be opposite to each other inthe plan view, the transfer of the workpieces W from the workpieceunloading ports 12 to the quenching apparatus 20 a is smoothly performedby the multi-joint robot arm 30. In addition, in the quenching apparatus20 a in which the workpiece W is inserted, air appropriatelystraightened for the workpiece W can be supplied, by actions of theair-cooling fan 22, the straightening plates 23 and the shutter 24illustrated in FIG. 2, into the workpiece storage unit 21 in which theworkpiece W carried out from the solution treatment furnace 10 isstored, which enables quenching work based on the blast quenching underthe uniform condition in each workpiece storage unit 21.

Subsequently, the workpieces W that have undergone the quenching work byblast quenching are carried out from the quenching apparatus 20 (20 a,20 b) in sequence. In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 8, theworkpiece W that have undergone the quenching work by blast quenching inthe workpiece storage unit 21 of the quenching apparatus 20 (20 a, 20b), are transferred to the carry-out position, the arm tip 32 of themulti-joint robot arm 30 is retracted from the workpiece W, therebycompleting a series of quenching working steps.

By executing the quenching method described above, it is possible toperform blast quenching for all the workpieces W within 10 seconds fromunloading of the workpieces W from the solution treatment furnace 10 bythe quenching apparatus 20 (20 a, 20 b), and the blast quenching can beexecuted under substantially the same conditions for all the workpiecesW. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since no delay occursin the quenching of the workpieces W and the uniform quenching treatmentcan be executed, it is also possible to stabilize the quality of theworkpiece W.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been describedabove, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to the rangesdescribed in the above described embodiment. Various modifications orimprovements may be made to the above described embodiment.

For example, although the quenching apparatus 20 (20 a, 20 b) of theembodiment described above performs air-cooled blast quenching, thequenching apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention can beused as a quenching apparatus of water-cooled or oil-cooled type.

Further, although the above solution treatment furnace 10 has aconfiguration in which the workpiece storage chambers are arranged in anannular shape, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, theinvention is applicable to a so-called straight type solution treatmentfurnace, which is a solution treatment furnace of a type in whichworkpiece storage chambers (trays), on which the workpieces are placed,are moved linearly by belt conveyors arranged in parallel, and theinvention is also applicable to a solution treatment furnace of othertypes.

For example, although the workpiece storage units 21 of the quenchingapparatus 20 (20 a, 20 b) move to positions in the proximity to theworkpiece unloading ports 12 in the embodiment described above, theworkpiece storage units 21 may be moved to a fixed distance from all theworkpiece unloading ports 12. It is essential to the invention toeliminate the variations in quenching treatment to the workpieces W dueto the difference in the workpiece unloading ports 12.

It is obvious from the description of the appended claims that suchmodifications or improvements may also be included within the scope ofthe invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

10 solution treatment furnace, 11 workpiece storage chamber, 12workpiece unloading port, 13 movable lid, 20, 20 a, 20 b quenchingapparatus, 21 workpiece storage unit, 22 air-cooling fan, 23straightening plate, 24 shutter, 25 motor, 26 chain, 30 multi-jointrobot arm, 31 main body portion, 32, 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, 32 d arm tip, Wworkpiece.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A quenching apparatus which performsquenching treatment on a solution-treated workpiece unloaded from asolution treatment furnace, the solution treatment furnace including aplurality of workpiece storage chambers and a plurality of workpieceunloading ports corresponding to the workpiece storage chambers, thequenching apparatus being provided so as to be movable in accordancewith positions of the workpiece unloading ports.
 2. A quenchingapparatus which performs quenching treatment on a solution-treatedworkpiece unloaded from a solution treatment furnace, the solutiontreatment furnace including a plurality of workpiece storage chambersarranged horizontally into an annular shape and stacked in a verticaldirection and a plurality of workpiece unloading ports corresponding tothe workpiece storage chambers, the quenching apparatus being providedso as to be movable in accordance with positions of the workpieceunloading ports.
 3. The quenching apparatus according to claim 2,comprising: a workpiece storage unit configured to store a workpieceunloaded from the workpiece unloading ports; and an air-cooling fanconfigured to air-cool the workpiece stored in the workpiece storageunit.
 4. The quenching apparatus according to claim 3, wherein theworkpiece storage unit is provided with a shutter capable of opening andclosing at a place where the workpiece is to be loaded and unloaded. 5.The quenching apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: astraightening plate configured to straighten an air flow generated bythe air-cooling fan.
 6. The quenching apparatus according to claim 2,comprising: a plurality of the workpiece unloading ports provided in thevertical direction of the solution treatment furnace, wherein thequenching apparatus is provided to be movable up and down in accordancewith the positions of the workpiece unloading ports.
 7. A quenchingmethod for performing a quenching treatment by using the quenchingapparatus according to claim 1.